It has come to light that the Pentagon has opened files on campus protests against military recruiters. Only one protest at the University of California-Santa Cruz was deemed a "credible threat."
The military said these protests were a danger to homeland security, and to some extent we see what they mean. The Army has had a tough time keeping up with recruitment, so that would be a problem.
Those protesting said they were not protesting the military, but the recruiters and their policies, such as the ban on openly gay soldiers.
We feel these protests are nothing new and they have been happening since the Vietnam war. Back then the now seemingly docile Ward Circle was home to rabid protestors who had teargas fired at them. The protests in question now did not involve any police action so far as we know.
Additionally, we are uncomfortable with the government, especially the military intelligence establishment, engaging in unwarranted spying on U.S. citizens simply exercising their first amendment rights. We fear this is just another attempt of hardliners to keep dissent off the radar or at least toned down. That does not sound like the kind of freedom our troops are defending.
